“The night is about over,
dawn is about to break.”
Romans 13:12a (The Message)
dawn is about to break.”
Romans 13:12a (The Message)
Wouldn't life be great if we could make our own stack of “Community Chest” cards from the game Monopoly? Whenever things got difficult, we could just pick up a card and go right past the hard stuff. During the holidays couldn't we all use a “Get out of shopping at the mall” card? There are some days I wish I could draw my favorite card from our Disney version of the Monopoly game: “You are the fairest of them all!” I’m sure Todd would love to draw the “win two tickets to the Rose Ball” card from our Penn State Monopoly. But I think if I had my own stack of Community Chest cards, my favorite card to draw would be the card I would draw every year just after New Year’s – “Advance your life directly past the winter blues, proceed directly to your favorite holiday… do not shovel any snow, do not collect 200 viruses”.
The winter months seem to go on endlessly. If I remember correctly, two winters ago brought us in the north east our snowiest winter ever. I was sure summer was going to miss us entirely and we would by-pass right into fall. I know many of you feel the same way I do. The cold, gloomy days, compiled with the 11 hours of darkness only add to our everyday frustrations. There are no extended breaks from school or work, and many of us save our vacation days for warmer weather. The only thing we have to look forward to once the New Year begins is summer – a dreadful five months away!
Apprehensive about the onset of the long winter season, I began wondering why Christmas was put at the beginning of winter. It would make life much more enjoyable if it occurred at the end of winter. That way we could spend the long, dreary days of winter surrounded by family gatherings, twinkling lights and mom’s cookies (though it would make bathing suit season all the more painful!). I knew that Jesus’ actual birthday was most likely not on December 25th. So who’s bright idea was it to place it on that day anyway? This fall, as I was reading my Bible study, I discovered that it actually was a “bright” idea to name that day as his birthday.
In the fourth century, the Roman pagans celebrated the winter equinox (then thought to be December 25th) by having festivals for their sun gods. The church wanted to extinguish their holiday that took the focus off of the One, True God. So they put their party hats on and declared December 25th to be the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. But it wasn't simply to put an end to the pagan holiday.
The winter months seem to go on endlessly. If I remember correctly, two winters ago brought us in the north east our snowiest winter ever. I was sure summer was going to miss us entirely and we would by-pass right into fall. I know many of you feel the same way I do. The cold, gloomy days, compiled with the 11 hours of darkness only add to our everyday frustrations. There are no extended breaks from school or work, and many of us save our vacation days for warmer weather. The only thing we have to look forward to once the New Year begins is summer – a dreadful five months away!
Apprehensive about the onset of the long winter season, I began wondering why Christmas was put at the beginning of winter. It would make life much more enjoyable if it occurred at the end of winter. That way we could spend the long, dreary days of winter surrounded by family gatherings, twinkling lights and mom’s cookies (though it would make bathing suit season all the more painful!). I knew that Jesus’ actual birthday was most likely not on December 25th. So who’s bright idea was it to place it on that day anyway? This fall, as I was reading my Bible study, I discovered that it actually was a “bright” idea to name that day as his birthday.
In the fourth century, the Roman pagans celebrated the winter equinox (then thought to be December 25th) by having festivals for their sun gods. The church wanted to extinguish their holiday that took the focus off of the One, True God. So they put their party hats on and declared December 25th to be the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. But it wasn't simply to put an end to the pagan holiday.
| Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46 |  |
The days at the end of December are the shortest days of the year (in terms of daylight hours). Just when the days could not get any darker, when hope began to fade, when it seemed as though God had forgotten, He came to earth, bringing light to us all – radiating from His Son. The days following Christmas get continuously longer and brighter, symbolizing the truth that at His birth, Christ brought heaven’s radiant light to us on earth.
Sometimes life gets dark. The kids grow up and leave home. We lose loved ones and friendships fall apart. Even when our physical world is surrounded by the blessings we all long for: good health and loving family, our internal worlds can become dark holes that leave us feeling lonely and scared. Some of us have noisy homes, but fearful hearts. Others of us have good health and great jobs, but empty homes. No matter how dark today is or how bright and joyful tomorrow may be, we do not know for sure what the future holds.
But this January, as we reminisce about Christmas and pine for summer, one thing we can all be sure of is that each day brings more light than yesterday. Every minute is a minute closer to the bright future promised to those who love Him. And no matter how dark and dreary our winter is, one thing is for sure, we can all have the greatest Community Chest card ever written:
Sometimes life gets dark. The kids grow up and leave home. We lose loved ones and friendships fall apart. Even when our physical world is surrounded by the blessings we all long for: good health and loving family, our internal worlds can become dark holes that leave us feeling lonely and scared. Some of us have noisy homes, but fearful hearts. Others of us have good health and great jobs, but empty homes. No matter how dark today is or how bright and joyful tomorrow may be, we do not know for sure what the future holds.
But this January, as we reminisce about Christmas and pine for summer, one thing we can all be sure of is that each day brings more light than yesterday. Every minute is a minute closer to the bright future promised to those who love Him. And no matter how dark and dreary our winter is, one thing is for sure, we can all have the greatest Community Chest card ever written:
“There will be no more night.
They will not need the light of a lamp
or the light of the sun,
for the Lord God will give them light.
And they will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelations 22:5
They will not need the light of a lamp
or the light of the sun,
for the Lord God will give them light.
And they will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelations 22:5
